The Child In Me
by keelykelly
Summary: Most people forget who they used to be as a child. But Corinne and her Friends are about to get a shocking Reminder. (Story's way more interresting than the Summary, I promise!) Disclaimer: Mattel owns all of the main characters I only own those that are not in the movie! :D Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

The four female musketeers stumbled into their apartment and collapsed on their beds.

"Oh!" Aramina groaned "My back! My neck! My feet!"

Corinne chuckled, her face buried in her pillow.

Viveca pulled off her boots "You're telling me!" then she lifted the hem of her skirt "Once again! Ripped!"

Renee huffed "If a ripped hem is the least of your worries, you are lucky."

Corinne rose up on her elbows "That well was in a bad place."

Aramina nodded "Next time, I'll help fight while Renee pulls you out."

Corinne laughed "Well, at least I'm not _that _heavy."

Viveca yawned and laid back on her bed "Tomorrow comes early." She said, pulling the covers up to her chin "We're on town patrol."

Renee nodded "Yep. Good night."

Corinne buried her head in her pillow and quickly fell asleep.

The next morning, the four girls headed to the castle to do their daily cleaning before heading out to patrol.

"Good morning, Corinne." King Louis said as he walked past, heading for his office.

"Morning Louis." The blond greeted, then she raised an eyebrow "More experiments?"

Louis nodded "Yep. Care to test them with me?"

"I can't today." Corinne answered "As soon as we're done here we've got a day on the town."

"Tomorrow?"

"Sure."

"See you then." He teasingly bowed, then walked away.

"Ooh." Aramina swooned "Did you see that? He bowed to you!"

Corinne looked over at the red head "So?"

"He considers you his Queen!"Aramina swooned.

Corinne snorted "Yeah, right."

"She could be telling the truth." Viveca said "He _totally _likes you."

Corinne rolled her eyes.

Aramina and Viveca were total romantics. Okay, Viveca wasn't near as big a romantic as Aramina was. Corinne, she didn't really think about it. But Renee, she could care less if romance was never mentioned. Especially when Aramina started talking about her meeting her .

The subject was dropped as they finished their chores, saddled their horses and rode out to town.

As they rode the streets of Paris, people stopped and waved. The reputation of the girls had spread far. They were considered the most trusted musketeers in Paris.

Aramina sighed "A beautiful, quite day in Paris."

"Help!" A voice suddenly screamed.

"Think again Aramina." Corinne said as she turned her horse around.

A woman standing in front of a store was pointing to a man running down the street "He stole my money! I need that to pay my bills!"

"Don't worry!" Viveca called as they rode past "We'll get it back!"

When the thief saw the musketeers riding after him, he ran faster "I need leverage!" he said to himself. Then, he spotted a young girl not too far away.

In one swift move, he swept the child off her feet and held him in front of her like a shield "Come any closer and the child pays!"

The musketeers dismounted as the child kicked and screamed "Put me down!"

Corinne was about to make a jump for the child to get her away from the crook, but she froze as she looked at the girl.

A pale blond ponytail, blue eyes, red jumper with a white long sleeved shirt and red boots. She looked to be about five years old.

Renee, Aramina, and Viveca took action while Corinne was staring at the child.

Renee whipped off her necklace and sent one of its gems flying into the man's right hand.

He yelped in pain and dropped the girl.

"Ow!" The girl said running her head, then she jumped to her feet and kicked the man as hard as she could.

"Ooh!" The man growled "You little brat!" he pulled back his hand to hit the girl, but Viveca flicked her ribbons, wrapping them around his left foot and yanked him off his feet while Aramina leapt forward and grabbed the girl.

Renee walked over to the man that was laying on the ground now and took a bag of money from his pocket "I'm sorry, but this doesn't belong to you." She waved down another musketeer that was riding by "Hey! Take this guy to jail, will ya?"

The musketeer nodded and took the man away.

Aramina sat the blond girl down on the ground "Are you alright?"

The girl nodded "Yeah. Good thing he dropped me when he did, or he would have been sorry!"

"Spunky little kid, aren't you?" Renee commented.

Viveca glanced back at Corinne who was still staring at the child "What's up?"

Corinne glanced up at her, then walked to the small girl "What is your name?"

The child raised an eyebrow "Who's asking?"

"I am."

"Oh." The girl shrugged "Makes sense. My name is Corinne."

Aramina, Viveca and Renee gasped and backed up.

"Now I know why you were staring." Viveca said, looking from her friend to the child "She looks just like you. Same name too."

Renee shook her head "Ok… Who's your parents?"

"My mommy's name is Marie." Little Corinne answered "My daddy's a musketeer. You've probably heard about him. D'artagnon."

Corinne's eyes widened "There is no way."

The girl looked around "What?" then she looked up at the older blond. Her eyes flicked to the blue hat and then to the cape "You're a musketeer?"

Corinne nodded, still trying to process what was happening.

"I knew girls could be musketeers!" The small girl whooped "Yes!" then she stopped "Wait. Daddy told me there were no girl musketeers."

"There aren't." Corinne said "I mean, there are. Um… do you know where you are?"

Small Corinne shook her head "Nope. I'm not in Gascony anymore." Then she gasped "You looked just like me!" she backed away "What's your name?"

"Corinne."

Both blonds stared at each other, then in unison they said "You are me!"


	2. Cori

"How did this happen?" Corinne asked slowly.

The smaller blond shrugged "I don't know. Are you in my time or am I in your time."

"Considering you're in Paris, I'm guessing you're in mine."

"Okay." Renee raised her hand "I'm already confused here. But, to avoid further confusion, Big Corinne, you will stay Corinne. Little Corinne, we'll call you Cori, okay?"

The two blonds nodded "Okay."

"Don't do that!" Renee exclaimed.

"Do what?" Corinne and Cori asked.

"Talk at the same time!" Renee grabbed her head with her hands "Alright. We need to figure out how you got here and how to get you back."

Cori shrugged "You can take me back to Gascony."

"Mom would have a heart attack." Corinne chuckled "Having to raise me all over again."

Cori raised her hand "Ooh! Ooh! Can I see the castle? Please!"

Corinne looked at her friends and shrugged "I don't see why not."

"Yes!" Cori whooped "Let's go!" then she took off running.

"Cori!" Corinne shouted.

"What?"

"The castle's the other way."

"Oh." Cori turned around "Well, let's go!"

"How about you ride back?" Aramina suggested, pointing to Corinne's horse.

"Okay." Cori ran over to Corinne's horse, and somehow managed to climb into the saddle.

Viveca looked over at her blond friend "You were quite independent."

Corinne laughed "You have no idea." Then she went and mounted up behind the girl "Let's go."

Cori started bouncing with excitement when the castle came into view "Look at it! Just look at it!"

Aramina smiled "Too cute."

"Can I meet the Prince?" Cori asked.

"Well, he's the king now." Viveca answered "But I'm sure Corinne won't mind introducing you."

Cori looked up at Corinne "Will you?"

Corinne nodded "Sure. If he's not busy."

"He's never too busy for you." Renee smirked.

Corinne frowned "Stop it."

Cori looked from Corinne to the other girls then back "Do you… like him?"

"He's my boss." Corinne answered "Of course I like him."

"Good." Cori looked back towards the palace "Boys are yucky."

Renee laughed "Agreed."

When they pulled to a stop in front of the castle, Cori slid out of the saddle "Whoa!"

Corinne jumped down behind her "Well. The door's up there." she pointed to the top of several steps.

"Aren't you going to help her?" Aramina asked.

"Nope." Corinne shook her head "She can manage. Trust me." No sooner had she said that, then Cori sprinted up the stairs not stopping once to catch her breath.

"We'd better catch her before someone else does." Viveca said.

Corinne nodded and the four musketeers ran after the girl. She was standing right inside the door, her mouth wide open.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Corinne said to her.

Cori nodded "It's the prettiest place I've ever seen." She turned to face the four older girls "So, where's the prince? King."

Corinne thought a second "Probably outside." She walked over to a window "Yep. He's working on his flying machine."

"Flying machine?" Cori raised an eyebrow "As in, bird flying?"

Viveca nodded "Uh-huh. It works too."

"Well, let' go!" Cori turned and ran back out the door.

Corinne sighed "No wonder my dad said I was a handful! I can't keep up with myself!"

Renee laughed "And somehow your mother raised you for seventeen years."

Corinne huffed then ran after the mini-her.

**Louis closed a **book he had just written in and turned to face the balloon "Hopefully, that will help with the landing."

"Wow! What is that?" A small voice exclaimed behind him.

Louis turned around, his eyes widening when he saw a very familiar _little_ girl "Corinne?" he said before he could stop himself.

"That's me!" the child exclaimed "Except, while I'm here, I'm going to be called Cori."

Corinne ran around the corner "Louis!" she stopped behind Cori and smiled "I guess you've met Cori."

"Yeah." Louis looked back and forth between the two "Little sister?"

"Not quite." Corinne stepped around the child and walked over to him "This is me, at age five."

"That's you?" Louis said, a smile starting to cross his face "You were cute." Then he cleared his throat "I mean… as a kid. You know…"

Corinne laughed "Louis. Don't kill yourself."

Cori crossed her arms "Um… Corinne?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you keep calling the king, Louis?"

Corinne looked down at the smaller blond confused "Because that's his name?"

Cori raised an eyebrow "He's the king. You work for him. You're supposed to call him Your Majesty. Not Louis."

"Well," Louis said "She won the privilege when she saved my life for the first time."

Cori nodded "Okay." She let her arms drop to her side "Just checking to make sure what Renee was implying to isn't true."

"What?" Corinne and Louis asked.

"That you like me."

Louis looked over at Corinne and cleared his throat "She's a very good friend."

"Good." Cori turned around "Where do I train?" then she ran off.

Louis chuckled "Quite the handful."

Corinne rolled her eyes "Tell me about it."

"You still up for that ride tomorrow?"

Corinne nodded "Wouldn't miss it." Then she groaned "Can mini-me come along?"

"Of course." Louis answered "Can't have too much of you in one place, I'm sure."

That night, Cori slept on the little couch at the end of Corinne's bed.

Aramina smiled "She is so cute!" she whispered.

Corinne chuckled slightly, pushing some of her blond hair, that she had been brushing, behind her shoulder "I'd forgotten what I looked like when I was little."

Renee nodded in agreement "You know, I don't remember half the stuff that happened when I was younger."

"Me neither." The others agreed.

Corinne leaned forward and brushed some of the child's hair from her face "Just one thing I dread."

"What?" Viveca asked.

Corinne sighed sadly "My dad didn't die till I was seven. In her world, Dad's still alive."

Aramina gasped "And he's not alive here."

Corinne nodded "She's going to notice that Dad's missing. Then I'm going to have to tell her he's dead."

Renee cringed "I would not want that job. Even if I had to tell myself."

Corinne smiled, then crawled under her blankets "Good night, girls. We've got another full day tomorrow."

The others nodded and settled down into their beds.

"Enjoy the balloon ride with you and Louis." Aramina said, slightly teasing.

Corinne chuckled "I will. Trust me."


	3. Cori's first balloon ride

The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, when Corinne was shook awake.

She groaned and rolled over "Cori? What?"

Cori frowned "I can't sleep any longer!" She whispered "I'm normally doing chores right now!"

Corinne laughed "You'll get used to it."

Cori walked over to the glass doors to the apartment "The sunrise looks so different here."

"Yeah." Corinne agreed, standing up and walking to join her "It is."

"It's beautiful."

"Yep." Corinne smiled down at the girl "Wait till you see it from the clouds. _That_ is beautiful."

Cori turned back into the room, one of her eyebrows raising in question "What's that for?" she asked, pointing to something by VIveca's bed.

Corinne looked and had to swallow the laugh that threatened. Beside Vivica's bed, on a small mannequin, was a small pink dress that looked exactly like Corinne's musketeer dress. There was also a small blue hat and cape, and a pair of pink boots were sitting beside it.

Cori walked over to it "Is it mine?"

"I don't think anyone else is small enough to wear it." Corinne answered, easing the dress of the mannequin "Here. try it on."

While Cori was putting on the dress, Corinne got changed, and was waiting when she emerged.

She had twisted her hair into a bun the best she could, and was holding it in place "I can't get it."

Corinne sat down on the edge of her bed "Come here." after several minutes, she finally managed to get the girl's hair up. By then, the other musketeers were starting to wake up.

Viveca took one look at the five year old and nodded "I am a good judge of size."

"It definitely looks good on her." Renee commented, standing up and stretching.

Corinne stood up and looked out the window "Someone had better wake up Aramina, or we're going to be late."

"I'll do it!" Cori volunteered, running for the sleeping red head's bed.

"I wouldn't!" Corinne warned. But it was too late. Cori jumped up onto the bed and started jumping up and down.

"Wake up!"

Aramina squealed and sat straight up, sending the child flying off the bed.

Corinne, who had been prepared, caught Cori before she hit the floor "Aramina. It's time to get to work."

"Okay." Aramina jumped from her bed and was ready to go in three minutes "Let's go."

Viveca groaned "Wait wait wait. Let me fix my hair!"

"How long does this take?" Cori whispered.

"Done!"

"Five seconds." Corinne answered, opening the door.

They all walked to the castle, Cori skipping in front of them, spinning around every now and then, talking the whole time.

Renee groaned "How much did you talk when you were a kid?"

Corinne laughed "Let's see. I grew up on a farm with only my mother and occasionally my Dad. I Mainly talked to the animals… and scarecrow."

"Scarecrow?" Aramina asked curiously.

Corinne nodded "I use to fight a scarecrow for training."

They went into the castle and retrieved their cleaning supplies.

Cori was standing behind them "What can I carry?"

Corinne handed a bucket back to her "The hose is right outside that door right there." she pointed to a wooden door nearby that lead outside.

Cori nodded and took off running.

"Corinne!" Aramina gasped "Can she handle that?"

"Yep." Corinne answered, grabbing a handful of rags and two mops "When I was five, my chores were feeding the animals, mucking out the barn and watering the cows." She chuckled "Talk about toting fifteen buckets of water halfway across the yard."

"Where did you find time to train?" Renee asked, closing the supply closet.

"While doing my chores."

Cori came back in, toting the bucket "Where to?"

"This way." Viveca said, leading the way to the great hall "Corinne. When's your balloon ride?"

"Lunch."

"Well. Let's get busy."

The next several hours were spent scrubbing the floors, railing, and everything else in sight.

Cori worked right alongside them, never once complaining.

When they were finally done, Corinne sat back on her heels, dropping the brush she had been using to scrub the floor "I think we're done." Just then, the clock struck noon "And it's time to go." She stood up and gathered a handful of supplies "Come on, Cori." After she returned the stuff to the closet, she and Cori headed outside.

"Where are we going?" Cori asked, skipping beside her.

"We're going up with the king in his hot air balloon." Corinne answered.

Cori's eyes widened "Really?"

"Uh-huh."

When they reached the balloon, Louis was in its basket waiting for them "Good morning, Corinne. Cori."

"Hi!" Cori waved up to him "Is this thing dangerous?"

"Very." Corinne answered.

"Cool."

Corinne handed the child up to Louis. By time he had sat her down, Corinne had already jumped into the basket. Louis shrugged, then cut the balloon loose from the ground.

Cori stared wide eyed as the ground became further and further away.

Corinne smiled at the girl and then joined Louis on the other side of the balloon.

"So." He said teasingly "What's it like having a mini you around all the time."

Corinne sighed and shook her head "It's hard."

"Why?"

"I'm afraid she's going to ask about dad." She glanced back at the girl who was still peering over the edge "I'm not ready to talk about that yet."

Louis turned so he was facing her "He was an amazing musketeer. Like you."

Corinne turned and smiled at him "Thank you… Louis."

"Um…" Cori suddenly said "Y'all aren't going to kiss, are you?"

"No!" The couple answered immediately backing away from each other.

"Good." Cori looked up at all the ropes hanging over her head "What's this rope do?" she asked, nor waiting for an answer before she grabbed it.

"No!" Louis exclaimed as Corinne leapt forward and grabbed the child.

Cori still had the rope firmly in her hand "What?"

"That rope cuts off the heat." Corinne said, prying the rope from her hands "If you cut off the heat, the balloon goes down."

Cori glanced down at the ground "And I take it that would be bad."

"Not unless you don't mind freefalling thousands of feet to solid ground."

Cori shrugged "Okay." And Corinne sat her back down and the child ran to the edge and resumed looking down.

Corinne shook her head as she stood back up to find Louis smiling "What?"

"Oh, nothing." Louis chuckled "It's just funny seeing you… smaller."

Corinne rolled her eyes "How did my mother do it?" she leaned against the side and looked down.

"My guess," Louis said "Is that she was amazing, like you."

There was silence for several minutes, then a _really _loud "**WOOHOO!**" split the stillness.

Corinne and Louis spun around to see Cori… missing.

Corinne gasped and ran to the other side of the balloon and looked down "Cori!" she didn't know whether to be relieved, mad, or to think it was funny. But Cori was standing on the rope ladder, three feet below the balloon, just hanging there feeling the breeze.

Louis swallowed a laugh, then quickly went to the other side of the balloon, hoping Corinne wouldn't notice.

"What?" Cori asked.

"Please come back up here." Corinne said, shaking her head.

"Okay." Cori quickly limbed up into the balloon "You should really try that."

"It's time to go down." Louis said, staring to mess with some ropes.

"Already?" Cori sighed "But it's so pretty up here!"

Louis looked at the small child and smiled "Maybe I can take you up again, sometime."

"I'd like that." Cori said "Bunches."

"And now, on a different subject," Corinne said, looking down on the ground "Did you ever learn how to land this thing?" when the king didn't answer, Corinne looked back at him "Louis?"

Louis smiled sheepishly "Does that question require an answer?"

Corinne and Cori both rolled their eyes "Naturally." They said, then they turned around and watched as the ground got closer.

"Is this going to hurt?" Cori asked.

Corinne chuckled "Nothing worth anything is easy."

As expected, the balloon tipped, throwing them all to the ground. As Louis helped Corinne up, Cori started rolling with laughter "That was fun!" she squealed "Let's do it again! Let's do it again!"

Corinne shook her head "Kids. They're basically elastic!"

Louis chuckled, then he scooped Cori up off the ground and tossed her into the air. Cori squealed with laughter as she flew through the air.

Corinne stood back and smiled as she watched them _"He'd make a wonderful father." _She thought, but she quickly pushed it from her mind "Alright!" she called to the two others "We need to head back."

"Ookey-dookey." Cori said as she was placed back on the ground. Then she grabbed Louis' hand, then Corinne's "Swing!" she demanded.

Corinne and Louis laughed as they began to swing for back and forth as they walked towards the castle.

"_Is this what it's like to have a family?" _Louis thought, glancing at Cori, then at Corinne.

Corinne looked over at him and smiled. When they reached the castle yard, Corinne pointed to the apartment "Here's our stop."

"Aw!" Cori whined, slightly pouting "Does it have to end?"

"If it never ends, then it can never start again." Corinne said.

Cori shrugged "Okay." Then she looked up at Louis "Bye bye, Your Majesty."

"Bye Cori." Louis smiled "Corinne." Then he walked away.

The two blonds waved then walked up the apartment steps. When they opened the door, the other three musketeers were standing side by side waiting.

"What's up?" Corinne asked cautiously, closing the door behind her.

Without saying a word, the girls stepped to the side to reveal three little girls. One brown haired blue eyed, the next red haired, green eyed, and the last dark with black hair and dark brown eyes.

**(A/N Thank you Popalot for your review. I hope everyone is enjoying my story so far. I'm having fun writing it! Don't worry, more surprises in store! Happy reading!)**


	4. Four Mini-Musketeers

"Don't tell me." Corinne said slowly.

"Yep." Renee nodded, pointing to the small black haired girl "This is me, at age five."

Corinne looked at the kids "And the other two…"

"Are us." Aramina finished.

Cori clapped her hands "Awsome! Playmates! I've never had playmates before!"

Little Renee placed her hands on her hips and sent Cori a calculating glance "I take it you're from the country?"

Cori frowned "Yeah. Why?"

"Just checking."

Little Viveca shrugged "Don't worry. We'll work on her."

"Hey!" Aramina said, putting an arm around Corinne "She's perfect just the way she is!"

Corinne laughed "They're kids, Aramina."

"Alright." Renee spoke up "Little Aramina, is now Mina. Little Viveca is now Vivi. And little me is…"

"Don't call me Re or Nee." Little Renee said immediately "Of I will hurt you… uh… me."

"How about Rae?" Aramina suggested.

Little Renee shrugged "That'll do."

"Okay." Corinne shook her head "So, all of us have3 a mini-me now?"

"Yeah." Her friends answered.

"This is going to be interesting." Viveca said "I have a feeling me and myself are going to have quite a few disagreements."

"Why?" Aramina asked.

Viveca pointed to where Vivi was holding up two pieces of fabric. One striped, the other plaid "My fashion sense hadn't totally developed yet."

Cori cocked her head "What's wrong with the fabrics?"

"Stripes and plaid never go together." The four musketeers said in unison.

Vivi looked at them confused "But they're both stripes!"

"But way different." Viveca said.

Mina suddenly began to jump up and down "Ooh! Ooh! I want to see the prince! I hear he's Sooo dreamy!"

Cori rolled her eyes "Not really. But his flying machine sure is cool!"

"Musketeers!" Treville called from outside "Can you come out please?"

Corinne leaned out the window "Be right there Captain!" she looked back at the four kids "What are we going to do with them?" she whispered "Treville will panic, to say the least, if he sees them!"

"No kidding." Renee mumbled.

"We'll do this." Aramina said. She turned to the four kids and pointed at them "Stay." Then she turned back to her friends "Let's go."

Corinne shook her head as they walked out the door "You really don't know me, do you Aramina?"

Aramina shrugged "They're just kids."

"Ten bucks says they won't be here when we get back."

"Twenty bucks says they will."

"Deal."

"Musketeers." Treville said "We've received word from a shop owner of a strange person lurking around town." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper "It left this on the back wall."

Renee took the paper and unfolded it "Watch out Musketeers. Danger lurks in the shadows for you."

Viveca smoothed out her skirt "Okay."

"Did the shop owner give a description?" Corinne asked.

"Just that the person was about six foot tall and completely concealed behind a dark grey cloak."

"Grey went out of style three years ago." Viveca mumbled.

Corinne spotted some movement from the corner of her eye. Four small figures ran from behind the apartment to the castle, completely unnoticed by the captain.

"We're assuming it's talking about you four." Treville said "Everyone seems to think that you girls are a threat."

Renee shrugged "Whether it's us four or you, Captain. It's all for one and one for all. One musketeer's problem, is all of ours problem."

Treville nodded "Just be on your guard. We can't let anything slip past us."

Corinne chuckled "No criminal and no kid."

"What?"

"Nothing." Corinne gave a small wave "Thank you, Captain."

As soon as Treville left, Corinne ran towards the castle.

"What are you doing?" Aramina called.

"Trying to spare the king a heart attack!" Corinne answered with a laugh, taking the steps two at a time.

The other shrugged, then followed her.

The four girls walked into the castle and Corinne looked around.

"What are you looking for?" Renee asked.

"The mini-uses." Corinne answered "They snuck up her while we were talking to Treville."

Aramina sighed "I'll get you your ten bucks when we get back to the apartment."

Louis walked into the room and smiled "Hello Corinne. Where's Cori?"

"She's running around her somewhere." Corinne answered "Along with…"

"Woohoo!" several loud squeals and one high pitched scream that echoed off the walls.

"Louis look out!" Corinne called.

Louis spun around in just enough time to see four little girls sliding down the bannister, but not quick enough to move.

Cori, who was in front, rammed into the king's stomach, sending him sprawling on the floor. Then the other three landed on top of him.

The four musketeers cringed as the four little girls began to laugh.

Corinne ran forward and removed the kids off of Louis stomach "Are you alright?" she laughed.

Louis nodded "Yeah. Just winded." He stared at the other three five year olds for a moment "Let me guess. The rest of the musketeers?"

"Right." Corinne nodded "Louis, meet Vivi, Mina, and Rae."

"Ooh!" Aramina squealed "He _is_ as charming as they say!"

Louis chuckled as he stood to his feet "Thank you."

There was a loud *Bang* upstairs that made everyone jump.

Cori help up her fists "Bring it on! Bring it on!" she shouted into the wind.

Vivi screamed and ran from the room, while Mina screamed and latched herself to Aramina's leg. Rae stood there looking around.

"What was that?" Corinne asked.

"An experiment." Louis answered "I think it worked."

"Excuse me." Viveca said "But I have to go stop me from hurting myself."

"Huh?" her three friends questioned.

"When I was little, every time I got scared, I'd run into a mad frenzy." Viveca answered, running towards the door that Vivi had taken "I broke lots of stuff and hurt myself quite a bit."

Aramina patted Mina's head "You can let go now."

"But it was loud!" Mina shrieked.

"There's no danger." Louis assured her "I was just a sound effect."

Slowly, Mine released herself "Okay."

Aramina let out a low whistle "I had a grip!"

"And I wanted some action!" Cori pouted "Oh well. I'll get plenty of it when I become a musketeer! Right?"

"Right." Corinne smiled.

Viveca came walking back into the room carrying a still running, Vivi with her.

Viveca was holding the child at arm's length to avoid being kicked.

Vivi'a eyes were closed and her legs were running ninety-to-nothing.

"Vivi!" Cori shouted "It's over!"

Vivi's eyes opened and her legs quit moving "Oh. Good." She looked up at Viveca and flashed her a smile "You can put me down now."

Viveca sighed and sat the girl on the floor "Please try not to panic."

"Okay." Vivi nodded.

Louis chuckled quietly "This could be interesting."


	5. One More Surprise

Interesting was an understatement. And it turned out, that Viveca and Renee, had very little in common with Vivi and Rae.

Vivi kept insisting that a plaid bodice and striped skirt would look perfect with polka-dotted collar and cuffs, as long as they were the same color.

And Rae, instead of saying the simple words, she used LONG words that hardly anyone even knew what meant. She informed them that she'd made some of them up.

Aramina and Mina were _exactly _alike. Both loved Ballet, poetry and romance. But of course, they were each other.

"My favorite part in Romeo and Juliet, is when he calls her name." Mina swooned as she and Aramina pirouetted across the apartment floor.

"Exactly." Aramina sighed dreamily "And to think…"

"They died because of their love for each other!" The finished in unison.

Cori's eyebrows rose "Okay." She said slowly "That's just creepy."

Corinne, from her position on her bed, shook her head "I'd just ignore them if I were you." She chuckled "Which I am."

Cori turned and looked at the other blond "And if I were you, which I am. I'd duck."

Corinne looked up at Cori "Huh?" then she was waked in the face with a pillow.

"Oh, you!" Corinne rolled off of her bed and lunged for the five year old.

Cori squealed and leapt out of the way "No no no!" she screamed as she began to run around the room.

Corinne scooped the child of off her feet and began to tickle her mercilessly.

"Stop! Stop!" Cori shrieked "I'm, not ticklish!"

"Cori." Corinne laughed, not stopping the tickle-attack "I know you. I think I know where your ticklish spots."

Cori squealed with laughter as Corinne gooched her sides "Okay okay! Uncle! Uncle!"

Corinne laughed as she tossed Cori onto her bed "There. I win."

Cori rolled over onto her back and looked at Corinne "Corinne?"

"Yes?"

"When do I get to see dad?"

The whole room became silent as Corinne took a deep breath, her eyes flicking to the clock on the wall "Oh no!" she exclaimed, grabbing her hat and cape off of a rack "We're late!"

"Late?" Her three friends asked.

Corinne nodded, signaling her friends to move! "Yes! We had that meeting, remember?"

"Oh!" the other three said in unison "Sure!"

"Stay here, please." Corinne said to the four youngsters "I don't want to get into any more trouble."

The four kids nodded "Okay."

"Possiblutely!" Rae added.

Renee quirked an eyebrow "Dare I ask?"

"It a mix between Absolutely and Positively!" Rae said proudly "I thought it sounded better than Absol-pose-lutivaly!"

"Way better." Renee agreed, then she followed her friends out the door.

Cori swung her feet over the side of the bed and began to kick them "Do you ever get the feeling that you're hiding something from yourself?"

The other three kids shook their heads "No."

Cori shrugged "Every time I bring up dad, Corinne changes the subject or… runs off."

"Maybe it's really sincere." Mina suggested "You know that the life of a musketeer is busy."

"True."

"Yeah. She's genuinely authentic." Rae nodded.

The other three girls sent her a blank stare.

"It means that she's sincerely honest."

"Oh."

Cori shrugged "But still. I have a feeling she's not telling me something."

"**Corinne?" Aramina said **as they walked towards town "Why did we rush out like that?"

"I can't tell Cori about Dad yet." Corinne said "I know what she'll do. Trust me, I did it! Except I was a little older." She sighed and shook her head "Cori's only five. She's not supposed to know for another two years!"

"But you can't avoid the subject forever." Renee stated.

"I know. But… I just can't tell her yet." Corinne looked back at her friends "Promise me you won't say anything."

"We promise." They nodded.

"Thank you."

Keeping mum about D'artagnon being dead was easy. Keeping the subject out of Cori's mind, wasn't.

The only time she didn't seem to think about him, was when she was with Louis. So while the girls were out, the younger ones would hang around the king.

Louis would never tell anyone how much he actually enjoyed it. But he did, and anticipated the time when Corinne would come and drop them off.

One evening, Renee, Viveca and Aramina had taken the mini thems for an evening out, while Louis Corinne and Cori took up the balloon again.

As before, Cori had loved looking down at Paris and seeing all the sights and had nearly pouted when it was over.

But, she cheered up when Louis had promised to take her up again.

So, Corinne and Cori went with Louis back up to the castle.

"We'd better go see if the girls are back in." Corinne said as they stopped outside of Louis' office "Then we can go eat."

"Yes!" Cori whooped "I'm so hungry, I could eat a cow with a side of pork!"

Louis chuckled "Well, have a nice evening ladies."

"See you later, Louis." Corinne smiled, then she and Cori headed down the hall.

They were just about to go around a corner when a loud "Whoa!" stopped them.

Cori and Corinne froze.

"What was that?" Cori asked.

"That was Louis!" Corinne answered, spinning around and running back the way they had just come, Cori right behind her. When they reached the office door, Corinne knocked "Louis?"

A second later, the door swung open. Louis had a peculiar look on his face. It was a mixture between shock, disbelief and amusement "Corinne." He said slowly "You might want to see this." Then he stepped out of the doorway.

Corinne looked into the room, her eyes widened as she caught sight of a little boy, about six years old. His hair was brown, as was his eyes. His shirt was turquoise blue and gold and his britches were turquoise and he was wearing brownish-gold boots.

"Louis?" Corinne said slowly, looking up at the king.

The little boy in the chair looked at her "Yes?"

"You are kidding me."

Louis chuckled "No. That's me at six years old."

Little Louis glanced at them curiously, then his eyes grew wide "Wow." He said slowly "Mom and dad said that there was a bee-troth-all, but they said that she'd be here when I got older."

"What?" Corinne and Louis said in unison.

"But she sure is purty." Little Louis added.

Corinne looked at the king confused and was about to say something when she heard a small giggle.

"I'm not a princess." Cori said.

Little Louis cocked his head "You're not? Then you must be an angel!"

"Nope." Cori smiled and crossed her arms "I'm just a country girl from Gascony!"

"Oh." Little Louis nodded "They raise you pretty out there."

Corinne swallowed a laugh as she watched Louis' face turn beet red.

"Hey, Louis." Louis said to the little him "How about you…"

"Wonderful idea!" Little Louis interrupted, sliding out of his seat. He walked over to Cori and held out his hand "Shall we? It's dinner time you know."

Cori giggled, took his hand, then the two kids disappeared down the hall.

Corinne choked on the laugh that she was have very little success holding in.

"What?" Louis demanded.

Corinne shook her head "Nothing. Just, you were quite the charmer as a little boy."

Louis' eyebrows rose and he smiled "I guess some of it wore off."

Corinne shrugged as she turned around "Some, maybe. But not all." She clamped her mouth shut when she realized what she had just said. _"Good going Corinne. You just told the king to his face that he was charming." _She mentally kicked herself _"Why don't you just tell him that he's really cute and the only guy that you have ever had feelings for!"_ Corinne bit her lip. Now where had _that_ thought come from?

"Corinne?" Louis said, his voice amused "Why don't we go find the kids."

Corinne looked up at him and nodded "Yes. Let's go."

When they arrived at the dining room, they were surprised to find that the youngsters weren't there.

"Well, where are they?" Louis mumbled.

"I don't know." Corinne said, looking around "I have no idea where a five-year-old me would go."

They checked the back yard, rechecked the office, and checked upstairs, but the kids were nowhere to be found.

"Where on earth…" Corinne started, but Louis snapping his fingers cut her off.

"I think I know where they are." Louis said, heading back for the stairs.

"Where?"

"The ballroom!"

Corinne stared after him confused "The ballroom?" but she followed.

As predicted, Little Louis and Cori were in the ballroom, where the young prince was trying, without success, to teach Cori how to dance.

"What does counting have to do with dancing?" Cori asked exasperated.

Little Louis frowned "I have no idea." Then he smiled brightly "But it's what mom says to do!"

Cori shook her head "Oh, alright."

Corinne leaned against the door jam and smiled. She remembered, as a five-year-old, dancing had been the last thing on her mind.

"Why are you trying to teach me anyways?" Cori asked.

Little Louis smiled sheepishly and blushed slightly "Well… I made a promise to myself that if I ever met the girl of my dreams, I would dance with her immediately. So that no matter how many balls she went to, I would already have had the first dance."

Corinne looked up at Louis "You did?"

Louis shrugged "My mom loved to read Shakespeare. She'd read it to me every night. So, I guess all that romantic stuff kind of got into my head." He chuckled slightly "My mom thought it was cute."

Corinne nodded, turning back to the children in the room "It is."

Louis smiled down at her "Well, Corinne. Shall we assist those poor youngsters. Little me could use some help teaching little you."

Corinne shook her head "Louis, I only know how to do the ceremonial sword dance."

Louis took her hand "Then, I think it's time you learned more."

The two younger ones looked up as the others entered.

"Do you know how to dance?" Cori asked Corinne.

"Not really." Corinne answered.

"Then, we'll learn together."

Little Louis nodded "Yeah. I don't know how to dance very well."

Louis winked "Well, we'll take it slow then." He walked over to where a gramophone was sitting and put in a record. Then he returned to Corinne, took her hand, got into the starting dance pose, then they began a slow dance around the ballroom.

The youger ones picked up quickly while watching the older ones. And it wasn't long before the two sets were dancing flawlessly.

Aramina, Viveca, Renee, and their small ones, peeking into the room and smiled.

"Isn't it precious?" Aramina whispered "It's like… um…"

"We know Aramina." Renee said "Trust me. We know."

But on the other side of the ballroom, peeking through a window unnoticed, a man with an evil look on his face smiled wickedly "They have little ones." He said to himself "Absolutely perfect."

**(A/N: Alright, now the story **_**really **_**begins! Sorry if it took a while to get to this point, but I hope you've been enjoying the story! Happy Readings! And thank you everyone for your reviews!)**


	6. What is the truth?

"Well, when are you going to tell her?" Viveca asked as the four girls were patrolling the town the next day.

"I don't know!" Corinne groaned "How am I supposed to tell _myself _that my dad is dead?"

"Just sit her down and tell her." Renee said "You know how you'll react."

"That's the problem!" Corinne pulled her horse to a halt "When I heard my dad had died, I ran to the woods behind our house, climbed a tree and stayed there for two days!"

"Whoa." Her three friends echoed.

"But still." Viveca said "It's better if she learns it from you, than figuring out on her own."

Corinne shook her head "I know. B… But I just don't know how."

Aramina looked around quickly, before smiling "Although, I must say. I think Cori _really _likes Little Louis."

Corinne rolled her eyes "Oh, Aramina! Please don't go into that again!"

"And The young Prince seems to think she's fallen from heaven." Viveca added.

Just then, Aramina's horse jerked and began to neigh frantically.

Corinne saw a large scratch across the front of one of the bay mare's legs "Aramina! She's hurt!"

Aramina jumped off of the horse's back and tried to settle her down "Come on, Giselle. Sh!"

Viveca dismounted her own horse to help.

"Look!" Renee pointed to a tree that was nearby, that had an arrow stuck in it.

Corinne looked down at her redheaded friend "Is she okay?"

Aramina nodded "Yeah. It just glazed her."

"Good." Corinne turned her horse in the direction that the arrow had probably come from "Vivica, you stay here. Renee, Come with me."

Renee nodded "Alright."

As the two girls rode, they were completely silent, looking for any clue to who had shot at them.

"Look." Corinne said, a few moments later. She dismounted pointed to some boot prints that were in the soft dirt.

Renee looked back the way they came "There's a small clearing all the way to where Aramina and Viveca are." She let out a low whistle "He'd have to be one good shot."

Corinne nodded from where she was looking at the boot prints "He weighed about two hundred pounds, but not overweight."

Renee looked around "Come on. Let's get back to the girls and head for the castle so we can tell Treville about a possible threat."

Corinne straightened up "Yeah. We should inform Louis too. He might not be expecting the overtime he's going to have with the kids."

When they reached the girls, they discovered that Giselle's wound wasn't too bad and would heal with the proper care.

"So, what did you learn?" Viveca asked as they rode into the castle yard.

"That whoever shot, has really good aim." Corinne answered "It had to be at least three hundred yards."

They led their horses to the stables, then went and told the captain what had happened.

Treville nodded "Be careful girls."

"You know us." Corinne said as she flashed him a smile.

Treville snorted as he walked away "That's why I said that."

"He worries too much." Viveca laughed "But, seriously. He and his men have more to worry about."

Corinne nodded as she reached to open the castle door "How did they survive without us?"

"Hi!" Cori called as soon as the girls stepped in the room.

"Hi." The four older girls greeted in unison.

"Slow day?" Louis asked, attempting to step around the kids.

Corinne blew a strand of hair out of her face "Is there ever a slow day?"

"What happened?"

"Someone tried to shoot us."

Vivi screamed and took off running, startling Mina, who immediately jumped and wrapped her arms and legs securely around Louis' left leg and closed her eyes.

"Call the musketeers!" Little Louis cried, diving under a nearby table, while Cori had hands balled into fits and was swinging them threateningly.

"Bring it on! Bring it on!" she called to no one in particular.

Rae, she just stood there looking around.

Viveca groaned "_Elle est impossible_! I'll be back." Then she took off running after Vivi.

Louis pointed down to Mina "Um… Loosing circulation."

"Come on Mina." Aramina said, grabbing the child around her waist "Let go of the king's leg."

"No!" Mina screamed "You're never taking me alive!"

Aramina put her hands on her hips "Now suppose Clara never followed the nutcracker to Parthenia. He'd still be a nutcracker! But she had to _LET GO!_"

Mina peeked up at her, then released Louis' leg and landed on the floor "There. I let go. And now my bottom hurts."

"Cori!" Corinne said, walking in circles around the child while staying a safe distance "Calm down!"

"Bring it on! Bring it on!" Cori continued.

Little Louis crawled out from under the table and stood up "What do you think you are? A musketeer?"

Cori turned and looked at him "Well… yes. I'm going to be a musketeer when I grow up!"

Little Louis rolled his eyes "Haven't you ever heard? Girls _can't _be musketeers! They're too emotional."

"Why you…!" Cori ran and tackled the boy "You big meanie!"

"Cori!" Corinne leapt forward and grabbed five year old's arms and tried to pull her off, but the girl wouldn't budge.

"You're not so tough!" Little Louis huffed "I'm stronger than you!"

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

'Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Cori looked up at Corinne, her grip still firm on the young boy's shirt collar "Have you ever saved the King?"

Corinne nodded slowly, she knew very well where this was going "I've told you I have."

"How many times?"

"I've lost count."

Cori looked down at Little Louis "See. You'd be _dead _if it weren't for _ME!_"

Little Louis was silent for a few minutes, then he looked up at Cori with the most pitiful puppy dog face he could muster "Let me up."

Cori glared "Say you're sorry and that girls are the best musketeers in the world!"

Little Louis looked up at the older one of him.

Louis shrugged "I'd do it."

Little Louis sighed, then turned back to Cori "I'm sorry Cori. Girls are, have been, and always will be the best musketeers."

"In the world?" Cori squinted at him.

"In the world."

"Good." Cori rolled off of the prince and stood up "But that doesn't mean I forgive you."

"But Cori!" Little Louis cried "I said it! I meant it! I'm really sorry!"

Cori crossed her arms and looked up at Corinne "What should I do?" she mouthed.

Corinne shrugged "Um… That's up to you. Not me."

"But I am you!"

"Yes." Corinne began to walk away, smiling mischievously while taking one small step at a time "But I'm older and more mature. A child can hold onto a grudge forever. But a mature, musketeer would forgive him."

Louis stepped over to Corinne "Forgive?" he whispered "How long did it take you to forgive me?"

"A day and a half." Corinne answered "But that's beside the point."

Cori sighed then turned to face the young boy "Alright. I forgive you."

"Thank you!" Little Louis cried, hugging the girl tightly.

"Can't breath!" Cori squealed.

Aramina and Mina sighed "So romantic."

"Come on!" Little Louis grabbed Cori's hand "Let's go walk around the garden!"

Corinne laughed softly "Kids."

Louis nodded "We were all kids once." He held his hand out to her "Shall we join them?"

Corinne smiled, accepted his hand, then followed the kids out the door.

"Well…" Renee said, looking down at Rae, then over at Aramina and Mina "I have a feeling Viveca needs help catching Vivi."

Rae rubbed her forehead "Oi. This could take a maximum capacity of time to panic stricken Vivi."

"Uh, yeah." Renee blew out a puff of air "Like she said. Come on."

"**It's odd being **here with me, fifteen years older." Little Louis said to Cori.

Cori nodded and glanced back at Louis and Corinne who were walking a few yards behind "Yeah. I know. But… I think she's hiding something."

"Like what?"

"I don't know." Cori shrugged, then kicked at a rock "She's just not telling me something… about dad."

Little Louis looked thoughtful "I don't know what that could be. Me and… um… Louis." He shook his head "Weird. But we had a talk last night."

"About what?"

"My parents."

Cori looked at him curiously "What about them?"

"Well… see." Little Louis sighed "My mom and dad are dead."

"What!?"

"Yeah. But, they die in three years from my time."

Cori stopped walking and turned to face the prince "Your parents are dead?"

"Yeah."

"And he told you?"

"Yeah." Little Louis nodded "He said it was hard, but he didn't see any reason to avoid it."

Cori glanced back at Corinne and frowned "Fine. I'll find out myself." Then she stormed up to the other blond "Corinne Emily D'artagnon, is my father dead?"

**(A/N: Dum dum dum du-m. So… what cha' think? Thank you Spirit Ella. Popalot, HappyFace, jjjjjjj, OJSZ, for your reviews!)**


	7. Edgar

"Is my father dead?" Cori asked, her eyes blazing.

Corinne stared at her for a long moment before closing her eyes sighing "Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Cori basically screamed, the tears building up in her eyes.

"I didn't know how." Corinne explained "Look, Dad didn't die till I was seven. You're five!"

"So?" Cori stomped her foot, the tears flowing freely now "What? Am I too young to understand?"

"No! Cori I ju…"

"Too weak to handle the truth?"

"No…"

"Then why didn't you tell me!?"

Corinne shook her head slowly "I didn't know how."

"What do you mean?" Cori snapped.

"Cori!" Corinne knelt down in front of the girl "You're not even supposed to know. Dad is there for your sixth birthday. He's there for Christmas! He's even there for Valentines Day. But… two weeks after you turn seven, Your dad had to miss, but he was coming. He promised. Than, one day, two horses come riding up into the yard, not one of them is dad, they tell you that he got killed in the line of duty."

Cori was staring at her wide eyed, but she was getting the story.

"It wasn't just pain that you experience." Corinne continued "It's shock, pain, and everything else! I didn't want that to happen… again!"

Cori backed up slowly and shook her head defiantly "You still should have told me." Then she spun around and took off running.

Little Louis gasped "You hurt her!" Then he followed Cori as fast as he could.

Corinne just stared after them, the pressure behind her eyes was nearly unbarable.

Louis stared at her for a long moment "You... you haven't gotten over it yet, have you?"

Corinne spun around to face him "Get over what? My father dying? How are you supposed to get over something like that, Louis?"

Louis stepped back shocked "I didn't mean get over. I meant, let go."

"My father was my hero." Corinne snapped "He was my role model. I wanted to be just like him when I grew up! I loved him more than anything. Besides my mom, he was my best friend! How do let go of that?" then she ran off in the opposite way that Cori had gone.

Louis face-palmed "She is _so_ stubborn!"

Little Louis came running back "I… lost… her." He panted "That… girl… is… fast!"

"Trust me, I know." Louis groaned.

"What can we do?" Little Louis asked "We can't just leave them!"

"Here's a lesson to learn, Louis." Louis said, directing the younger boy back towards the castle "When a steam engine goes out of control, you don't try to stop it, you just have to wait till it stops."

**Cori was tearing **through the trees, tears streaming down her face.

"Why didn't she tell me?" she sobbed "She should have told me!"

Then she tripped and crashed to the ground, where she just laid there and cried,

The tall trees that surrounded her blocked most of the sun, making the air damp and chilly.

"Well well well. If it isn't one of the little musketeers." A voice sneered.

Cori's head jerked up and looked around, but saw no one.

"What are the odds of catching a five year old alone in the woods?" the voice continued.

Cori slowly stood to her feet "Who are you?" she demanded, the added a bit quieter "Where are you?"

A tall dark figure in silver armor and a dark black cape hanging from his shoulders stepped into the clearing.

His hair was grey and his eyes were a dark green. He had a hollywoodian beard and mustache that was silver and streaked with black. On his side he carried a sword that was bigger than any sword the child had ever seen. The air around him was dark and threatening, and so was his face.

Beside him a man who was tall and lanky. He had a big nose and huge ears that stuck off the side of his head. He had brown eyes and black hair that stuck straight up and formed a pit of a point at the top of his head. he also had a five o clock shadow. He kind of looked like a gorilla in the face.

"Hello, Child." The first man sneered "Why don't you come with me, real quiet like."

"Never!" Cori shouted as she stomped her foot "And you can't make me!"

The man just laughed and walked towards her "Spunky little girl, aren't you?" he turned to his sidekick "Get her, Jasper."

"Yes boss." Jasper answered, walking towards the girl.

When he got close enough, Cori kicked out one of her feet and kicked Jasper as hard as she could in the shin.

"Ow!" Jasper cried, gripping his knee "Ooh! Ow!"

"You idiot!" the boss shouted. Then he shoved Jasper out of the way stalked towards the five year old.

Cori gritted her teeth as the man came closer "Leave me alone."

"Come here, squirt!" the man jumped forward and grabbed her arms.

"Put me down! Put me down!" Cori screamed at the top of her lungs, her arms and legs swinging like crazy.

"You're a little menace." The man growled as one of her hands hit him square in the nose.

"She's really hyper." Jasper added, then he clicked his tongue "Too much sugar."

"You'll never get away with this!" Cori shouted.

"Watch me!"

Cori continued to kick and demand to be released as the man carried her back through the woods, then she stopped.

"What's the matter?" the man smirked "Worn out little girl."

"No." Cori replied calmly "Just building up my strength."

"For what?"

"This… **CORINNE!****HELP!**"

**Corinne slowly walked **towards the apartment. She hadn't meant to explode at Louis like that, it was just… she sighed. There was more than one reason why she couldn't seem to let go of her father, and she wasn't ready to talk about them.

"Hi Corinne." Aramina greeted as she, the other girls, with their miniatures, walked towards her.

"Hey."

"Okay." Renee said, looking at Corinne's downcast face "What's wrong?"

Corinne shrugged "I lost my temper."

Renee snorted "Nothing new there, Corinne. So what's really wrong?"

"I told Cori." Corinne answered "Well… actually, she found out."

"Ooh." Viveca cringed slightly "I take it she didn't take it well?"

"Nope. She exploded." Corinne shook her head "Then she ran off, then I blew up at Louis… and…" she let out a big huff of air "I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Wait a minute!" Vivi shouted, getting everyone's attention "Cori ran off?"

"But where did Cori run off to?" Rae finished.

No sooner had the words come out of her mouth, than an echo split the stillness.

"That's Cori!" Corinne gasped "I should have known not to let her run off alone after that incident earlier!" she spun around and ran towards the stables "I have to find her!"

"We're coming with you!" Renee called as she scooped Rae up.

Aramina and Viveca grabbed their youngsters and ran after them. The girls quickly saddled their horses, put their smaller ones in the saddle, then mounted up.

"Wait for me!" A small voice called.

They turned to see Little Louis running their way, Louis not far behind.

"You can't." Corinne said "It's too dangerous."

"I don't care!" Little Louis cried "Cori's the love of my life and I want to help save her!"

Corinne couldn't help but smile and looked up at Louis and nodded towards another horse "Well, hurry up. We need to move fast, Cori screamed for help. And as you know, I don't scream… ever."

"So it had to be a _major _emergency." Aramina concluded.

"Yes." Corinne nodded "So be on your guard. This could get dangerous."

Vivi let out and ear piercing scream and jumped off of the horse, but Viveca grabbed her and held her at arm's length as she ran on air. Mina squealed and wrapped her arms around Aramina's waist. Rae just looked around.

Corinne sighed "Maybe we should leave them here."

"You leave us and we'll follow!" Rae said defiantly.

"Okay, okay." Corinne turned her horse towards the barn door "Let's go."

Then they set out, hoping that Cori was okay. Dee inside they were all wondering the same thing. If Cori got hurt… how would that effect Corinne? If the five year old ended up dead… would Corinne disappear? Forever?

**Cori struggled against **the ropes that had her bound "You'll never get away with this!"

Jasper ran over to her and stared at her suspiciously "Why? What do you know?"

Cori raised an eyebrow "Huh?"

"No one can stop my boss!" Jasper said, nodding "No one can stop the great Edgar Devinci!"

Both of Cori's eyebrows rose "Devinci?"

Edgar groaned "Would you shut up!"

"Look. My… uh…" Cori thought for a moment "Big sister, Corinne will be here soon!"

Edgar laughed "Why, my little girl. That's wonderful!" he walked over and knelt right in front of her "I want you sissy and her friends to show up. I knew they'd come after you."

Cori gasped "You'd better not hurt them!"

Edgar pulled out a dagger and tossed it a couple of times "Oh, don't worry. I'm just going to make sure no one ever hears from them again!" then he began to laugh.

Cori leaned back into the wall behind her, now wishing with all her heart that she hadn't screamed. She knew they were coming. But they didn't know that they were about to walk right into a trap.

**(A/N: Thank you everyone for reviewing! It makes the story so much more special to know what others think! So, bad guy has now made an appearance… and he's got a stupid sidekick. It's my first time with the stupid sidekick, so please don't judge him too harshly. Well… happy readingz! Laterz!)**


	8. A Trap Trap

The girls had been following a _very well _defined set of footprints for about fifteen minutes. Everyone was silent.

Corinne glanced up at Renee to see the girl's eyebrows raised _"Yep." _She thought _"We're thinking the same thing."_

Viveca looked over at Corinne and frowned. Then Aramina looked over at her. All four girls had the same face.

"Um… hello?" Rae said suddenly "Some of us here don't have telepathic abilities."

"It's a trap." The four girls said in unison.

Mina squealed slightly and wrapped her arms around Aramina's waist.

"How do you know?" Vivi asked, trying hard not to panic.

"The footprints." Corinne answered "They're _too _seeable. Whoever left them was stomping really hard. They wanted us to follow them."

"So if we don't follow them, then we won't fall into their trap." Aramina guessed.

"Unless…" Renee added "They wanted us to think it was a trap so that we wouldn't fall for it and fall into the real trap."

"But what if it is a trap, and they know we know it's a trap. So we think it's a trap and they know it's a trap, thinking we won't fall for the trap, and if we do fall for the trap, then we'll actually have the advantage." Viveca said.

Corinne's eyebrows reached her hairline "Say what now?"

"It's a trap trap." Little Louis spoke up.

"What is a trap trap?" Louis asked, looking at the boy in front of him.

"You know it's a trap, and he knows you know it's a trap. And you know that he knows that you know it's a trap. So, you go into the trap thinking that he thought you would avoid the trap, but that was the plan all along. So, you fall for the trap trap."

"Uh-huh." If Corinne's eyebrows could have gotten any higher, they would have "So, if we go ahead and fall for the trap thinking that it'll catch them off guard, it's actually what they want."

"Exactly." The others answered.

Corinne shook her head "Thank you for the simple explanation." She looked around "What do we do?"

"Fall for the trap trap?" Little Louis suggested.

"But if we fall for the trap trap, then we'll be trapped."

"Unless we set out own trap." Viveca said, smiling smugly "And I have an idea."

**Corinne glanced at **Renee who was riding beside her. They were following the footsteps, hoping that Viveca's plan would work.

Renee had left Rae with the others, so she would be out of danger for as long as possible.

"Hey, Corinne." Renee said after a few moments "If something happens to the mini-us, does it effect our now day lives?"

"I don't know." Corinne answered "I've been trying to figure that out. But I'd rather not know at all, then figure it out the hard way."

Renee nodded "Agreed."

Corinne suddenly pulled her horse to a stop "We're not alone." She whispered.

"How right you are!"

The girls looked up to see Edgar standing on a tree branch.

Renee raised an eyebrow "A little old to be climbing a tree, aren't you?"

Edgar rolled his eyes and jumped to the ground "I'm It's really nice of you."

"Where's Cori?" Corinne demanded "And she had better not be hurt."

Edgar chuckled evilly "Don't worry, you will be seeing her soon." He snapped his fingers and immediately Jasper stepped into view, unsteadily holding a bow and arrow.

Renee's eye bulged and she glanced over at Corinne worried. They both knew this guy was inexperienced. It was _too _obvious. Which also made him _very_ dangerous.

"Now, dismount slowly and toss your weapons to the ground." Edgar ordered "And don't startle Jasper, or he will shoot."

"_If only he were close enough to tackle." _Corinne thought _"But, we'd better go with Viveca's plan. And to do that, we have to get tied up."_

Edgar took a coil of rope from Corinne's horse and tied her hands with one end and Renee's with the other.

"Ouch!" Renee groaned "Don't cut off the circulation."

Jasper just snorted "Whatever."

"Come." Edgar demanded, pushing them from the back "I believe your little sister is _dying _to see you."

Corinne hoped that the emphasized 'Dying' had been for no reason.

Edgar and Jasper led the two girls deep into the woods, then they came to a large tree.

The girls watched in amazement as Jasper opened a door to reveal a long, downward staircase that disappeared into an inky blackness.

"Got any light?" Renee asked.

"Just move!" Edgar barked. So the girls started down. When Jasper closed the door to the tree, it was impossible to see.

Corinne held her breath as she carefully walked down the steps. Did they have an end? . She took a step down, and suddenly, the edge of the step crumbled beneath her weight "Whoa!" she cried as she went plunging down. And since Renee was tied to her, she was pulled down right behind her.

Corinne hit the ground, then Renee landed on top of her, then quickly rolled off.

"Are you okay?" Renee asked sitting on her knees. She had actually bounced off of Corinne for most of the fall, keeping her from hitting most of the stone steps. She had a few bruises, and was quite sore.

Corinne groaned and tried to push herself up, but she just fell back into the dirt. The fall had made the ropes on Corinne's hands come undone.

Renee gasped and crawled over to her side "Corinne?"

The blond rolled over onto her back, her hands griping her ribs "I'm okay." She said weakly.

Renee shook her head "No you're not!" _"What's the plan now, Viveca?" _she thought. Viveca's plan had been centered around the fact that they could both fight! But Corinne couldn't even stand!

"Get up!" Edgar shouted as he and Jasper cane to the bottom of the stairs.

"Hey, look Boss!" Jasper laughed "I'm not the only idiot that falls down the steps!"

Renee gritted her teeth. She wanted to strangle that guy! But she didn't want to possible cause Corinne more injuries. Now, she'd put nothing past this guy "Look. Corinne's hurt! She needs help!"

"Too bad!" Edgar snapped "Jasper! Tied her back up!"

Jasper quickly tied Renee's hands while Corinne tried to get up, without success.

Renee shook her head as she watched Corinne's third try end the same way the first two had.

Edgar growled with annoyance as he walked over to Corinne and yanked her to her feet.

Corinne gasped sharply, and whimpered slightly.

"Come on!" Edgar snapped, pulling Corinne down a long hallway.

Renee could hardly watch as Corinne stumbled and tripped, also knocking Edgar off balanced and slamming him into quite a few walls.

When the hall opened up into a large, dimly lit room. Renee's eyes widened as she spotted Cori sitting against a wall. Beside her was Aramina, VIveca and Louis, with their mini's tied to their back.

The others gasped when Edgar released Corinne and she crumpled to the floor.

"Useless." The man grumbled, his green eyes flashing. He pointed to the wall "Tie miss Renee here to the squirt that looks like her. Do it to the blond too." He grimaced as he rubbed one of his bruised arms and touched a now tender spot on her head "Then come with me."

Jasper tied Renee and Rae together, then drug Corinne over to Cori, and tied their already bound hands together, then he ran off.

"Corinne!" Aramina whispered "Are you okay?"

Corinne looked back at her and smiled widely "Oh yeah. But Mr. silver haired isn't."

There was a small round of laughs as everyone realized that the whole wounded thing had been a hoax.

"You scared me to death!" Renee hissed.

Corinne laughed "Hey. Apparently there's just two of them. One is plain stupid and the other is now bruised." She glanced at Viveca "It was just in case plan A fell through."

Viveca blushed "Yeah. But how are we going to get out of here now. They took our weapons."

"I don't know." Corinne said.

"Corinne?" Cori said quietly "Why did you get mad when I asked about Dad?"

"I didn't get mad, Cori." Corinne said "You were the one steaming."

"But you were upset." Cori shifted uncomfortable, trying to get the ropes to loosen "Why didn't you want me to know?"

Corinne sighed "I… I just wanted to forget, I guess."

"Forget that Dad was dead?"

"No. Forget what I did when he died." Corinne answered "The reason I haven't been able to… let it go, isn't because of Dad. It's because of Mom."

"Why mom?"

"When I learned that Dad was dead, I climbed a tree and stayed there for two days, waiting for my Dad to come get me." The older blond looked up at the ceiling "I left mom alone. Dad had been her sweetheart since they were your age. Loosing Dad had been like losing Life. He was everything to her. And when she needed me the most, I wasn't there."

Cori's eyes widened "I wasn't?"

Corinne shook her head "No. The musketeers couldn't stay because they were all men, and we didn't have any neighbors nearby." She looked back at the girl behind her "Later I realized, that those moments were the times when my mom needed me more than any other time… and I let her down."

Cori sniffled as she blinked away some unwanted tears "I let mommy down?"

Corinne smiled slightly "No. You didn't, I did. Dad isn't dead yet to you, and he never will be."

Cori glanced back at her "So, you wanted to forget that Mommy needed you while you weren't there?"

"Yes."

"Oh. I think I understand." Cori was quiet for a moment "I think Mommy will understand too. You should tell her."

Corinne didn't answer, she just sat there lost in thought, then it struck her "Cori. Turn to the left as far as you can."

"Okay." Then Cori turned until Corinne's hand could touch her skirt.

"Got it!" Corinne announced, pulling the dagger out of the smaller one's skirt.

Cori's mouth gaped open "I had a dagger on me!? And I could have used it!"

Corinne laughed quietly as she turned the knife around in her hand and began sawing at the ropes "Knowing you. It might be a good thing that you didn't." A few seconds later. Their hands were free. Corinne handed the knife to Cori "Cut the others loose. Carfully!"

Cori nodded "Of course!" two minutes later, everyone had been cut loose.

"Come on!" Corinne said, turning towards the hall they had come through, but stopped suddenly when an arrow struck the wall, barley half an inch in front of her face.

"Going somewhere?"

**(Tada! What do ya think? Huh huh huh?)**


	9. The talk with Marie

Corinne slowly turned to see Edgar standing on the other side of the room, a crossbow in his hands.

"_This guy is a good shot." _She thought as she glanced back at her friends.

"Well?" Edger sneered "Where are you going?"

"Um… For fresh air?" Mina tittered.

Jasper clicked his tongue "Sorry. But that's not allowed around here."

"Sit back down!" Edgar snapped "Now! Or one of the little ones will pay the price!"

"Do what you want to me!" Little Louis shouted "But leave Cori alone!"

The older man just laughed "That could be arranged. Now sit!"

"What do we do?" Viveca whispered as they slowly backed up against the wall.

"I don't know." Corinne answered "We need a distr…"

"Stop talking!" Edgar shouted "No plot making!"

Jasper looked confused "Why would they plant a garden in here?"

Corinne rolled her eyes "So he is as dumb as he looks."

"Indubitably." Rae answered.

"Why can't we charge them?" Renee asked quietly "It's two to four."

Corinne pointed to the crossbow "Because, that would hit at least one of us. It's not worth it."

"What are you going to do with us?" Cori asked Edgar, her voice sounding a lot more confident than Corinne was feeling. But Corinne had a feeling, that Cori was just as unsure as she was.

Jasper walked till he was standing right in front of the small blond "Oh, he's just going to make sure that no one ever hears from you again."

"You're going to kill us?" Mina whimpered.

Edgar rocked his head back and forth, then grinned wickedly "Yes."

Vivi suddenly let out a high pitched scream and ran. Mina screamed, jumped forward and latched her arms around Jasper's neck, knocking him off balance.

"Call the musketeers!" Little Louis shouted, diving behind the king, who just rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Bring it on! Bring it on!" Cori shouted, her fists up and ready.

Rae simply looked around.

"Well." Corinne said with a smile "There's the distraction. Let's get him!" she pointed to Rae and Cori, then to Jasper "Keep him down."

Cori whooped "Alright!" Then she pounced.

Rae walked over and calmly sat on his feet "Okay. I'm holding him."

Then the four older girls charged Edgar who was watching Vivi run frantically, and trying to figure out how to stop her.

"Help help help help help help HELP!" Vivi screamed as she ran in circles around the room.

"Kid!" Edgar shouted "Shut up!"

"Hey!" Viveca growled "No one talks to me that way!" her foot came up and the crossbow flew from the man's hands.

"It's over Edgar!" Corinne snapped as she dropped into a musketeer pose, ready for action. Just without the sword. A hand clamped over her mouth while another went around her arms from behind.

"I've got you!" Jasper laughed.

Corinne rolled her eyes, and with a heave, sent Jasper flying over her shoulders into Edgar.

"You idiot!" Edgar shouted, pushing Jasper off of him "Get them!" unfortunantly, he had landed near his crossbow. He grabbed it and jumped to his feet, aiming the arrow at Renee. Now, he was too far to simply tackle "Good bye, musketeer!"

Cori ran forward "Leave them alone!" she screamed and she grabbed his leg.

"You little brat!" Edgar spat. He grabbed the back of Cori's dress and flung her up against the wall.

"You brute!" Aramina gasped. Then she and her friends had him bound and gagged, along with Jasper, in a matter of seconds.

Corinne let out a sigh of relief "Finally. I am so glad that's over."

Viveca blew a strand of brown hair from her face "Not yet. Someone still has to stop Vivi."

Little Louis suddenly gasped "Cori!"

Corinne spun around and ran to where the small blond was laying limply on the floor.

"Cori." She whispered, shaking the girl slightly "Cori? Can you hear me?"

Cori groaned slightly, then her eyes opened "Yeah."

"She's okay!" Little Louis cried happily.

Cori sat up and rubbed the back of her head "Oi. That hurts."

Corinne chuckled quietly "Don't worry. That's not going to be the first time you hurt your head. Trust me."

"We need to make sure she doesn't have a mild concussion or something." Renee said "We should go."

Corinne nodded and picked Cori up "Come on."

"I've almost got her!"Viveca called, from where she was running after Vivi. She stopped and gasped for breath "Why didn't I race as a kid?" then she took a deep breath and shouted at the top of her lungs "Viveca Jade Charlemont! You calm down right now before I tell your mother!"

Vivi skid to a stop and looked around "Okay. I'm good."

The others laughed.

"Come on." Louis said "Let's get out of here."

Little Louis looked up at him "You're useless. You know that?"

"What?!"

"You let the girls fight for you!"

Louis squinted his eyes at the youngster "Yeah, and you hid."

Little Louis shrugged "So? I'm six!"

Louis shook his head "But one thing I've learned, don't get in the way when a girl starts fighting. It's better to stand back."

Corinne laughed "Smart, Your Highness. Very smart."

"Come on!" Rae called from the doorway "I am so ready to get out of here!"

They took Cori to the doctor, and he informed them that she didn't have a concussion. Just a really big bruise that would heal.

"So, how often do I hit my head on cases?" Cori asked.

Corinne shrugged "About as often as Viveca's dress gets ripped."

"Speaking of which." Viveca said happily "It's still in one piece!"

After a few moments of silence, Cori looked up at Corinne and asked "Do you still feel guilty about running out on Mama?"

Corinne looked down at her and nodded "Yeah."

"You shouldn't. And you should tell Mama. She'd understand."

"I know she would." Corinne said "But… I don't think I would."

"Just talk to her!" Cori insisted "You would feel so much better!"

"And speaking of mother." Renee said as they rode into the castle yard "There she is."

Corinne gasped when she spotted her mom standing on the castle steps "What…?"

"Hello, Corinne!" Marie called, walking towards them.

Corinne cringed and glanced down at the child in front of her "This is not good. My mom is going to have a heart attack!"

"How are you?" Marie asked as she stepped up beside Corinne's horse.

Corinne smiled "I'm fine." As she dismounted and slowly sat Cori down on the ground, who stared dumbfounded up at her mother.

"Whoa." Cori breathed.

Marie looked down at the child, a confused look crossing her face "Um…"

"Hey, Cori!" Louis called to the small blond "Come on."

Marie watched as Little Louis and Cori walked away with Louis right behind them. The others made their selves scares also.

"Did… I miss an invitation?" Marie asked slowly.

"Mom!" Corinne gasped "No! And besides, I've only been here three years. Not seven!"

"Right." Marie nodded "But that little girl looked a lot like you." She then smiled at her daughter "You know, your father would have been so proud of you."

Corinne took a deep breath, then let it out "Mom, can I talk to you?"

Marie nodded, her face slightly confused "Of course."

Before she could stop herself, Corinne told her mother everything "And… I'm sorry." She finished.

Marie shook her head "Corinne. I knew where you were when you were up that tree."

Corinne looked up shocked "You did?"

"Of course." Marie nodded "I watched you for those two days. Your father's death was harder on you than it was on me. I knew there was a possibility of your father dying. He put his life on the line every day! But you… Your father was a man who always came home. He was always there. And when you heard that he was never coming back, you had to get that set in your mind. And sometimes, being alone is best." She put a reassuring hand on her daughter's shoulder "I needed the alone time too. But, I knew where you were. And I knew you needed to be alone. So I left you."

Corinne let out a pent up sigh "I thought… I had let you down."

"No." Marie said with a slight smile "I just wish you had told me sooner. But you're like me. Too stubborn."

Corinne chuckled "I thought I got that from Dad."

"Maybe a little bit." Marie pulled Corinne into a warm hug "Just promise me, if there's ever something like that bothering you again, tell me."

Corinne nodded "I will, Mama." Then with a laughed she added "Eventually."

Marie pulled back and smiled proudly at her daughter "I have to go."

"Bye, Mama."

Corinne stood there and watched as her mother walked away.

"How'd it go?" Renee asked, as she and the other two walked up.

Corinne smiled "Perfectly." She turned to face her friends "Where's the Minis?"

"In the castle with the king." Viveca answered "Come on. We'd better relieve him."

Then, arm in arm, the four girls walked up to the castle doors.

"What's that?" Renee asked, listening closely.

The girls stopped and listened. It sounded like a piano, flute, violin and a harp.

"Let's go see!" Aramina said immediately, running into the castle. The others followed.

It didn't take them long to reach the music room where they found Louis and the five kids.

Louis and Little Louis were sitting by the wall watching. Mina was playing a flute, Rae and Vivi were playing violins.

Renee leaned in and looked around the corner to the other side of the room, then she looked over at Corinne suspiciously "Um, Corinne. Cori's playing the piano."

Corinne chuckled nervously "Really? What a surprise."

The song that the smaller ones were playing was kind of catchy. And they played it almost perfectly despite the occasional sour note they hit. Mina was doing a little jig as she player her flute. Rae and Vivi were tapping their feet to the beat, although Rae was more into it. Cori's small legs were dangling over the edge of the bench, kicking with the beat while her little fingers moved across the keyboard as surprising speed. After a few minutes, they stopped playing and turned to the girls.

"Come on!" Mina called "Play with us!"

Renee shrugged "Why not."

Rae put down her violin and picked up a small guitar, then pointed to a bigger one that was leaning against the wall "You use that one. We'll let the purples play the violins."

Renee shrugged "Okay. But I prefer violin."

Aramina and Viveca also joined their minis.

"Come on Corinne!" Cori called, patting the bench beside her.

"Cori, it's been years since I've even touched a piano." Corinne said, leaning against the wall.

"But mom said it's a natural gift of mine." Cori argued "So you _have _to remember!"

"Go ahead Corinne." Louis said "I didn't even know you _used _to play the piano."

Renee smirked "None of us did."

Corinne sighed defeat "If that kid blows any more of my secrets." She mumbled, then she went and sat beside Cori "What key?"

"E-flat major." Cori answered.

"Okay." Corinne stared at the keyboard "Okay."

Cori shook her head "I'll start." Then she began playing a random tune. The others joined in.

Corinne finally got her hands moving on the keyboard, then she looked down at Cori and smiled.

Cori glanced up at her then quickly returned her attention to the piano "You're lucky. I still have to look at the piano to know what notes to hit."

Corinne chuckled "Don't worry, you'll learn."

Cori smiled brightly, then she started singing:

"_**I know it's crazy. But I am not afraid.**_

_**A country girl from a different world, tryin' to find my own way.**_

_**I know that I can be- whatever I can dream!**_

Little Louis sighed dreamily "Isn't she perfect?"

_**All for one, it's true**_

_**I'll show you what I can do**_

_**Pure heart, clear mind**_

_**Fighting for what's right every time**_

_**I'm strong now and that's how**_

_**I know it won't be long now**_

_**All For one! One for all!**_

"Woohoo!" Little Louis yelled at the top of his lungs "Way to go! Atta girl Cori! Yeah!"

Corinne started laughing as she turned to looked at the two Louis' sitting by the wall.

The king had his head back, a hand covering his eyes, while Little Louis was jumping up and down on his chair shouting at the top of his lungs.

Cori smiled brightly "Thank you. Thank you."

"Ooh." Aramina teased "You can sing too."

Corinne shook her head "Okay. It's late We need to go."

Cori tried to cover a yawn "But I'm not sleepy."

Corinne smiled "Prove it." She stood up from the piano, then took Cori's hand and led her from the room, her friends following "Good night, Louis." She called over her shoulder.

Louis waved from where he was standing, the boy who had been hyper a few moments ago was slung unconscious over his shoulder "Good night."

The girls made it to their apartment. Cori took off her small musketeer hat and laid it on the floor next to the couch she slept on "So? What happened?"

Corinne pulled a blanket up to the small girl's chin "You were right, Cori." She said, smoothing the child's hair back "Good night."

Cori's eyes drooped closed "Nitey night, Corinne." Then she was fast asleep.

Corinne kicked off her boots and looked around the room at the four children who were all asleep "It's amazing."

"I know." Renee laughed "Who would have thought? You know, I forgot I was so… kiddish."

"Panicky." Viveca added "I could scream. No wonder my mom always had calm music playing around the shop."

Corinne smiled "I just wanted to be like my dad."

"And you are." Aramina said "Just so much better, 'cause you're a girl."

With a laugh, the four musketeers crawled under their covers and soon fell asleep.

**Corinne's eyes suddenly **sprang open. She looked at a small clock that was beside her bed. 2:00 am. She sat up and looked around. The light from the moon cast a soft glow on the room.

Corinne's gaze landed on the couch at the foot of Aramina's bed… it was empty. She looked over to Viveca and Renee's beds. The couches sitting at the end were empty too.

She sat up on her knees to check hers. Cori was gone.

Corinne got up out of her bed and walked over to the small couch and stared at it. Had it been a dream? Then she spotted a very small blue hat playing on the floor. She bent down and picked it up. Viveca had embroidered 'Cori' into the large ribbon that went around the middle "Nope. Not a dream." She walked over to a nearby window and looked up at the millions of stars twinkling overhead "Thank you." She whispered, then she hung the small hat up on the hat stand beside hers, crawled back into bed and fell asleep, feeling happier than she ever remembered feeling.

The End.

**(A/N: I know. I'm terrible with endings! But I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I've enjoyed writing it! I know the song was kind of random, but… Well, anyhoo, thanks everyone for your reviews! **

**Laterz!)**


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